❄️❄️❄️
Chasing snow
~ A poem by Sanai Rashid
Snow falls onto cracked pavements,
broken homes and shattered dreams.
The white angels' cover-up
a pain so evident
burying each feeling of distress further
down and down and down.
Until all you can see are ghostly white blankets.
Your body trembles,
and for once, it isn't consumed with fear.
It is bubbling with freedom.
You pour water on the glue
that has stuck you onto your bed
for the last six months
(but in all honestly, you didn't want to get up)
and you wash your face for the first time
brush off the plaque that stains your teeth
lotion the skin that resembles the Sahara desert
put on red long johns, mittens, gloves, coats
and snap on your snow boots.
You hammer down the stairs
and you're not thinking about
the asynchronous classwork you have to do
Right now, everything on your to-do list
can stick a carrot up their rear.
For snow is here.
Now you are out the door,
and your feet are making footprints
in the snow!
You are here,
right now,
making your mark on the world.
Your body is like a toaster oven,
warm and fuzzy from layers of clothes
and you smile before you take the final plunge
and fall onto the snow.
Time flies by.
The light lemonade sun
that shone when you first went outside,
has now been replaced with
a hard boiled egg moon,
and a dark chocolate sky.
Hours of rolling around,
sticking out your tongue for fresh snowflakes,
snowman building and ice spinning
are now over.
As you peel off your clothes,
run your frozen hands under hot water
and sip hot cocoa on the couch,
you wonder
Which is better?
The chase for happiness
or happiness itself?
The chase is filled with hope, longing,
a craving for something more
then what you currently have.
But when you achieve that happiness
it eventually goes stale.
The expiration date grows nearer.
Maybe happiness never goes "stale."
It just melts into something different,
Like a cup of Dip N Dots.
Like butter on a pan.
Or snow.
The thrill of snow is that it is temporary.
You have to appreciate it while you can.
And when you are chasing something
that never stays for too long,
you better run while you can.
